After graduating from Severance Medical College in 1916, Chang Sei Kim went to Shanghai to work as a missionary in a adventist hospital. The establishment of the Korean Provisional Government led him to participate in the independence movement. Educating nurses to assist the forthcoming war for independence, he seemed to realize the fact that the health of Koreans would be a key factor for achieving independence. He left for the U.S. to conduct comprehensive research on medicine. Chang Sei Kim was the first Korean to receive a Ph. D. degree of Public Health, graduating from the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health in 1925. He then gained an opportunity to work for Korea as a professor at Severance Medical College. His objective was the 'Reconstruction of the Korean People In Terms of Physical Constitution.' He pointed out that Koreans' weak state of health was a major reason for Korea's colonization. To gain independence, he emphasized that the Korean people should receive education on public health in order to improve the primitive conditions of sanitation. There is little doubt that Chang Sei Kim's ideas developed Heungsadan's views on medicine in terms of its stress on cultivation of ability, especially considering the fact that he was a member of the organization. As a member of the colonized who could not participate in the developing official policy, Chang Sei Kim was not able to implement his ideas fully, because an individual or a private organization could not carry out policy on public health as large a scale as the government did. Never giving up his hopes for Korean independence, he rejected requests to assume official posts in the Government-General. That was why he was particularly interested in the Self-Governing Movement in 1920s Korea. If the movement had attained its goal, he might have worked for the enhancement of sanitary environment as a director of Sanitary Department. His application for funding to establish a hygiene laboratory in Korea was rejected by Rockefeller Foundation, as the policy of foundation was to finance only government institutes, not private ones. Resigning his position at Severance Medical College in 1927, Chang Sei Kim went to Shanghai to work as a Field Director in the Council on Health Education. The council was affiliated with the Rockefeller Foundation and was founded to ameliorate the hygienic situation in China. He was well fitted to the job, because China, like Korea, shared the aim to achieve independence by promoting better health for its people and because he could be appointed as a public officer which could not happen in colonial Korea. To solve the ever-serious problems with tuberculosis in China, he went again to the U. S. to conduct research and raise money for the establishment of a sanitarium. Chang Sei Kim passed away there in 1934 at the age of 42.
Public Health Practice/history ; Public Health Administration/*history ; Korea ; Japan ; Humans ; History, 20th Century ; Health Policy/history ; Health Education/history ; Colonialism/history

No abstract available.

During its colonization of Korea, the Japanese Empire used the Western medicine as a tool for advertising its advanced culture. However, the medical orkforce available in Korea was insufficient. The Rule for Uisaeng(Oriental medicine practitioner) was an ordinance decreed in 1913 with a purpose of supplementing the medical workforce. As the Oriental medicine practitioners became official medical workforce, the Japanese Empire could mobilize them in a hygienic administration such as prevention of epidemics. The Uisaengs also tried to adapt themselves to the colonial environment by studying Western medicines. However, the distrust of the Japanese Empire in Oriental medicine continued until 1920s. Manchurian Incident in 1931 brought a change. As the relationship with China aggravated, the provision of medical herb became unstable and the Japanese Empire began to encourage using Oriental medical herb following the Movement for Improving Rural Region Economy. An attempt of the Japanese Empire to utilize the medical herb resulted in a plan to make the Oriental medical herb officinal. The goal was to organize and standardize the Oriental medical herb through a research by the Medical Herb Investigation Committee. However, the medical herb on the table was the one verified by the Western medicine. That is, it was not a traditional medical herb that uses the original theory of Oriental medicine. There was a minority opinion arguing that they should study the Oriental medicine itself. However, that argument was also based on the theory and principles of the Western medicine. Even though an attempt to make full use of Uisaengs expanded as the war continued, the major medical workforce that the Japanese Empire relied on was those trained in Western medicine. In other words, the Japanese Empire did not give a full credit to the Oriental medicine during the colonial era. During the colonization, Japanese Empire used Oriental medicine under the nominal reason of lack of medical workforces. In early 1930s, a policy supporting usage of Oriental medical herb was selected. However, it does not mean that the change in policy encouraged Oriental medicine since the medical herb that the Japanese Empire supported was those that were organized and categorized according to the principles in Western medicine.
Colonialism/*history ; Herbal Medicine/*history ; History, 20th Century ; Japan ; Korea ; Medicine, East Asian Traditional/*history ; Western World/history

In the 2010s, research on modern history of medicine in Korea has yielded notably outcomes. There have been social historical inquiries investigating the organic relationship between medicine and society, and there has been a study overcoming the traditional nationalistic dichotomous approach. A social historical perspective has been used to analyze the issues of knowledge and politics; the time period of its application was clustered around the colonial period. The condition of colonialism is both important and convenient for analyzing how and to what extent medicine, which is usually deemed neutral, contains a will of authority. Building on existing research, an attempt to understand a subject based on a combination of various elements or from various angles is needed.
Accumulating empirical data is important to further advance related research. It is necessary to verify the accuracy of basic facts and build up verified facts. Sometimes theories are applied to research on the history of medicine. However, they are merely a passive application of existing theories and fail to lead to modification and fortification of the theories based on the case of Korea, let alone the establishment of an independent theory. Accumulating empirical studies would help create a unique theory for the Korean case. To establish a new theory, characteristics of the Korean case need to be identified, which have been formed by the Korean tradition. An understanding of the modern situation inevitably leads to an interest in the tradition. Another necessary effort is to expand territories, and one of them would be to develop interests in patients and consumers.

Yun Ti Wang studied medicine in England, different from other Korean medical doctors in early days. Yun, who entered medical school at Glasgow University in England in March 1919, graduated with a Bachelor of Medicine in October 1925, along with an England medical license. Yun began working as an instructor at Severance Medical College from November 1927, and received Doctor of Medicine from the College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists at Kyoto Imperial University in August 1936. After the Liberation, Yun began working as a faculty member at the medical school at Seoul University, and he also worked as a Chief of the Second Medical Clinic of the school from 1946. Yun made a great effort in order to build an integrated committee, eventually contributing to the launching of Joseon Medical Associates in 1947. He was also elected as a first president at Joseon Obstetrics and Gynecology Associates, which was organized at the same year as the Joseon Medical Associates. Yun entered military as an army surgeon in April 1949 and has worked there until he was appointed as a principal at the Army Medical School in September 1953. His contributions to the development of military medical services include the following: expansion of medical facilities in army, stable system of workforce in military medical service, launching of Medical Aid and establishment of Department of Medical Care, and introduction of new medical technologies in anesthesiology and neurosurgery, etc. The career of Yun can be largely divided into the field of gynecology and military medical services. In the gynecological field, Yun contributed to the settlement of obstetrics in Korea, by taking in charge of the obstetrics class at Severance following medical missionaries. As for the military medical services, he has contributed to the establishment of military medical system as well as to the opening of new academic areas. The impact of his activities on the establishment of military medical services is especially significant, since it was a field that no Korean citizens had access to during the colonization era.
Education, Medical/history ; England ; Gynecology/history ; History, 20th Century ; Korea ; Military Medicine/*history ; Obstetrics/*history ; Societies, Medical/history

In the beginning of the colonial era, the Joseon Government-General's most important medical policy was related to the disease of smallpox. The Government-General reused some of policies established by the Great Han Empire. They also made an effort to improve the shortcomings in that anti-smallpox policy by phasing out technically insufficient vaccinators and by incubating female vaccinators. However, compulsory vaccination was the major component of the Government-General's anti-smallpox policy. The vaccination effort was lead by police officers and the frequency of vaccinations was increased two-fold. When the anti-smallpox policy became effective in 1910, the incidence of smallpox decreased. However, after 1919, the incidence of smallpox began to increase once more. According to the Government-General, this increase was the result of a decrease in the frequency of vaccinations. Therefore, in 1923, the Government-General increased the frequency of vaccinations from twice to three times by implementing the Joseon Cowpox Ordinance. Under this policy adults were also vaccinated. Interventions by local organizations were also expanded. However, through the end of the colonial era, smallpox never fully disappeared in Joseon. The lower-than-expected rate of vaccination has been identified as one of important reasons for the constant presence of this pathogenesis. Incomplete census registration was identified as the major reason for the decrease in the vaccination rate. Insufficient technologies for disseminating the smallpox vaccine and ambiguity with regard to the vaccine's effectiveness also prevented the people of Joseon from voluntarily obtaining their vaccinations. To increase the rate of vaccination, it was necessary to secure the cooperation of Koreans. However, that cooperation has never been harmonious. No records exist of any discussions related to the problem of smallpox or the effect of the anti-smallpox vaccination, which was a reasonable expectation for the citizens of Joseon. Moreover, the Government-General kept insisting that the Joseon citizens' ideas about the need for sanitary and effective vaccinations were insufficient. The sought-after cooperation was never easy, and this resulted in the extensive duration of outbreaks of smallpox.
Adult ; Censuses ; Cowpox ; Disease Outbreaks ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Police ; Smallpox ; Smallpox Vaccine ; Vaccination

Sherwood Hall established a tuberculosis sanatorium in 1928 in Haeju, Hwanghaedo Province. While founding Haiju Sanatorium, he had to overcome a couple of problems. Firstly, foreign missions could not afford a sanatorium. The Methodist mission that dispatched Hall initially expressed a negative response to his endeavors. Ms. Verburg's bequest finally enabled Hall to build a sanatorium. The next obstacle was the objections of neighbors. To overcome opposition, Hall called the sanatorium a School of Hygiene for the Tuberculosis. Finding staffs, nurses in particular, was another problem. Hall stressed that, with precautionary measures, there was relatively little risk. Hall tried to furnish the sanatorium with the most modern facilities and make the sanatorium a place where the public was taught to fight against tuberculosis. Furthermore, Hall built a model farm in conjunction with the sanatorium. The farm would work not only as a stock farm for providing milk and meat but also as a field for occupational therapy. In 1932, in order to secure funding for the expansion of the sanatorium, Hall published the first Christmas seals in Korea, using the sale as an opportunity to organize a civil movement. The relationship of the Haiju Sanatorium with the colonial power was very amicable. Hall was able to establish the sanatorium through the generous co-operation of the colonial government. To the colonial power, the establishment of a tuberculosis sanatorium would mean a lessening of the suffering and death rate from tuberculosis. However, the situation changed in the early 1930s. The colonial power ruled out one of its potentially greatest allies, the missionary power. When the Association for Tuberculosis Prevention of Hwanghaedo Province was established, Hall was appointed to none of the major positions. Medical missionaries could be a threat to the colonial power, which wanted to lead the antituberculosis movement. In 1940, Hall was expelled from Korea, being allegedly accused as a spy of America.
Americas ; Commerce ; Financial Management ; Humans ; Hygiene ; Korea* ; Meat ; Milk ; Missions and Missionaries ; Mortality ; Occupational Therapy ; Protestantism ; Tuberculosis*

This research examines the expansion and characteristics of the Korean Army’s chain of medical evacuation in 1948–1953. The most important goal of the chain of medical evacuation was to conserve fighting strength, which cannot be achieved only by sending the sick and wounded to the rear for treatment. It was more important to maintain as many mission-capable wounded soldiers on the frontline. Therefore, triage for conserving strength was the priority in the evacuation process, and military doctors conducting triage played a significant role. Focusing on military doctors, this article studies the instability of the Korean Army’s medical evacuation chain.
Although Korea was liberated from Japanese colonial rule in August 1945, Korea had no army or army medical services. With the support of KMAG, the Korean Army was able to build a nationwide evacuation chain during the Korean War. However, the expansion of the medical evacuation chain resulted in instability. At the heart of the instability was manpower, rather than organization and transportation. Koreans had almost no experience with the military medical services before 1948, and during the Korean War, most doctors, who had been conscripted after the outbreak of the war, were not trained as military doctors. Therefore, the Korean Army had no other choice but to conduct medical evacuations using mobilized civilian doctors who were not sufficiently trained as military doctors. The escalating war revealed the problems of civilian doctors in military uniforms. Unlike the goal of the chain of medical evacuation, they easily evacuated patients and were reluctant to release patients to return to their duties. Korean Army doctors who were not sufficiently trained as military doctors struggled between the goals of military medical services and those of medical care. Consequently, the military doctors and the instability of the medical evacuation chain during the Korean War reflect the fundamental tension between war and medicine.

Medical license is to qualify a person for medical practice and to attribute him/her a privileged right in the practice. This privileged and exclusive right asks for protection from the side of a state and the state in turn needs qualified medical personnel in order to carry out her task of public health, one of the main duties of modern states. In Europe, physicians succeeded in obtaining medical license that guarantees the privileged right in a highly competitive medical market against other practitioners. The first regulation for medical license in Korea was made in 1900 when few Korean doctors trained in Western medicine was in practice. The regulation aimed at controlling traditional medical practitioners who had been practicing medicine without any qualification as a physician. The regulation was very brief, consisting of only seven articles. A newly revised regulation appeared in 1913 when Korea was under the occupation of Japan. The Japanese Government-General enacted a series of regulations about medical personnel, including dentists and traditional medical practitioners. This heralds its full-scale engagement in medical affaires in Korea. Unlike the case of European countries where medical license was obtained after a long struggle with other practitioners, in Korea, medical license was given to doctors too easily from the state. And this experience played a very important role in the formation of identity of Korean doctors.
English Abstract ; History of Medicine, 20th Cent. ; Korea ; Licensure, Medical/*history

Background: The purse-string suture (PSS) is a simple and rapid wound closure method that results in minimal scarring. It has been used to treat circular or oval skin defects caused by tumor excision or trauma. However, due to obscurity, it is not widely used, especially for the head and neck. This study aimed to modify the PSS to obtain predictable and acceptable results. Methods: A total of 45 sites in 39 patients with various types of skin and soft tissue defects in the head and neck were treated with PSS. We used PDS II (2-0 to 5-0), which is an absorbable suture. Minimal dissection of the subcutaneous layer was performed. The suture knot was hidden by placing it in the dissection layer. Depending on the characteristics of the skin and soft tissue defects, additional surgical interventions such as side-to-side advancement sutures, double PSS, or split-thickness skin graft were applied. Results: All wounds healed completely without any serious complications. Large defects up to 45 mm in diameter were successfully reconstructed using only PSS. Postoperative radiating folds were almost flattened after approximately 1–2 months. Conclusion PSS is simple, rapid, and relatively free from surgical design. Owing to the circumferential advancement of the surrounding tissue, PSS always results in a smaller scar than theinitial lesion and less distortion of the body structures around the wound in the completely healeddefect. If the operator can predict the process of healing and immediate radiating folds, PSS couldbe a favorable option for round skin defects in the head and neck.